Monsanto, BP, Veolia Fund Toxic Waste Cleanup

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Monsanto, BP and Veolia will pay to clean up toxic waste — including Agent Orange derivatives, dioxins and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) — at a former quarry in South Wales, the Guardian reports.

The newspaper says the agreement ends a 50-year ordeal that began with a Monsanto plant dumping thousands of tons of chemical and industrial waste into the quarry in the 1960s and ’70s. BP also dumped waste at the site, and Veolia acquired the contractors that originally disposed Monsanto’s waste.

The UK agreement comes as the city of San Jose, California, has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto that alleges the company knowingly polluted the San Francisco Bay with PCBs and says Monsanto should pay to clean up the contamination.

The city’s stormwater, which contains PCBs, flows into the San Francisco Bay.

PCBs are chemical compounds that were produced by Monsanto in the US until 1979s, when Congress banned the production and use of PCBs based on their danger to human and environmental health.

 

Environment + Energy Leader